The present invention features a container lid system with a lid component (and optionally a container), wherein the lid component (Smart Lid) of the system comprises sensors adapted to measure the amount or weight or quantity of the contents therein. The present invention is not limited to quantity, weight, amount; the lid component may be adapted to measure other parameters such as quality, state, and/or interactions of the contents. The present invention is not limited to measuring parameters of the contents in the container or on the lid component; the present invention also features measuring the quality, state, and/or interactions with container and the lid, as well as measuring quality, state, and/or interactions of just the lid component by itself. For example, the present invention may be adapted to determine when the lid component is removed from the container, when the container is touched, when the container is in a cold environment, etc. The present invention may also measure things related to the quality/state of the container, lid component, or contents, e.g., temperature, humidity, light levels, orientation, location, etc.
The lid component (Smart Lid) of the present invention may be universal so as to be used with various types and/or sizes of containers.
The lid component (Smart Lid) is equipped with one or more electronic sensors coupled to one or more electronic modules, an operating system, and one or more communication modules. The communication module of the lid component (Smart Lid) may be configured to communicate with mobile devices or computers, e.g., via a network or wireless connections system. For example, users may create one or more mobile applications, such as a smart phone application, that will work with one or more containers equipped with the lid component (Smart Lid). Each lid component (Smart Lid) may have a unique identifier.
A single lid component (Smart Lid) may attach to several different containers, each with different contents and/or functions. For example, a lid container may be used for a food storage container as well as for a medicine bottle, fitness supplement container, liquid container, etc. The containers used with the lid component (Smart Lid) are not limited to consumable or non-consumable products. The containers may, for example, be used for protein powder, paint powder, coffee beans, plant seed, herbs, soil, jewelry, metal coins, bugs, small animals, etc.
The lid components (Smart Lids) of the present invention may be utilized for a variety of purposes, for example (1) POS applications: e.g., similar to how various companies develop applications for POS using smartphones as a platform; container with lid component (Smart Lid) attached for real-time tracking of quantity of contents removed from container or added to container; (2) Quantity, quality, and state of contents: e.g., Fermentation, mold/mildew detection, pickling, preservation, gas detection, levels of contents, presence of materials, etc.; (3) Inventory tracking: e.g., put lid component (Smart Lid) under jar, or attach to base of custom container, when adding contents to track initial quantity; place storage container upside-down with lid component (Smart Lid) attached, to track instances of content addition, removal, or interaction; instances of content addition, removal, or interaction; (4) Leverage existing consumer containers for loyalty and CRM: e.g., Fitness supplement containers with lid components (Smart Lids) for tracking use of products. Can be used to understand patterns of consumption and determine quantity and quality of contents to help optimize mechanism for facilitating re-orders of product; can be used for any type of lid for any contents, even non-consumable contents; can also be used for rewarding and incentivizing high-frequency users, etc.; (5) Reorder and receive local offers based on use of lid component (Smart Lid): e.g., understand consumption information or interactions of contents of container to facilitate new purchases of the same or related contents; e.g., consumer is using lid component (Smart Lid) for food storage. Uses X, Y, Z ingredients at F frequency, therefore will have high chance of purchasing A, B, C ingredients at T time period. The present invention is not limited to the uses described herein.